Love this City: Stuart family | OneFootball

I wanted to support City but had nobody to take me to the match.

However, having saved some pocket money one day myself and Mike Mullen caught the 22 bus from Urmston to Fallowfield (we were around 13 years old) and from the Platt Lane end we watched the Kippax sway and City play for the first time live. We had found our team.

The earliest match I can recall attending myself was around 1972. However, the most vivid matches are those when I started taking my son Sam when he was just 3 years old. Unfortunately, City were on the decline at the time but we still continued going to the match throughout relegation division three, losing to teams like Port Vale and Bury.

At one point I actually felt bad bringing him to the match with me, even though he was always keen. In a moment of guilt I remember saying to him one wet, cold match day (a dad thing)... “never mind  Sam, one day you and me will be watching City playing in the Champion’s League”. What wisdom.

I will never forget where we came from, the several relegations, playing in lower divisions and the feeling of despair. But some kind of miracle did actually happen to create a City transformation. I feel so proud and grateful that HH Sheikh Mansour, and his eminent off the field team had the vision to choose a football club located in a cold wet city in northern England... our Manchester City.

Pep has changed the way football is played and created a new beautiful game. We need to constantly remind ourselves as City fans how lucky we are. Several years ago I remember saying to my son Sam “enjoy what you are watching...because we will never see football like this ever again”. I was wrong, it got even better... we became Champions of Europe and the whole world.

We usually set off to the match a couple of hours before kick-off and park near Piccadilly. On the walk to the Etihad, we grab some snacks from the shop or if it’s an evening match perhaps get some food from the chippy. Either way we tend to stick to our lucky routine.

On match days we tend to walk around the stadium, see what’s going on at City Square and then head to our seats nice an early to watch the team warm up. It’s fascinating to notice that there are so many different types of supporters of all ages and nationalities now.  The fans who sit near us seem pretty friendly and we generally have a chat with the guys on our row.

Answered by Graham Stuart and Sam Stuart